Dhaka, March 25th 1971, Tejgaon airport. General Yahya, Pakistan’s military dictator, before boarding his special aircraft turned to General Tikka Khan, Commander Eastern Command, and ordered “Sort them out!” Operation Searchlight had received the green signal from the highest authority in the land. The operation to “sort out” the Bengali citizens of Pakistan was launched around midnight on that fateful day in the nations turbulent history. Operation Searchlight extinguished the lives of many innocent Bengalis. It spread a thick pall of doom and gloom all across the fair and beautiful land of Bengal and destroyed the fragile relationship between East and West Pakistan. The night of 25th March 1971 was probably the last night of a united Pakistan. On this day the concept of Muslim nationhood was buried alive. The two-nation theory received a severe jolt and Jinnah’s Pakistan faded into oblivion. All that Searchlight achieved was death, destruction, loot, plunder, rape, and genocide of the Bengali people. This operation was a cleverly crafted blueprint for destroying the unity of the nation. It was also a clarion call for the Bengali freedom fighters and the start of a destructive civil war resulting in the bloody birth of Bangladesh on 16th December 1971.

All foreign correspondents and journalists had already been kicked out of Dhaka by the military authorities and a tight censorship imposed on the local news media. Three correspondents at the risk of their lives managed to stay in hiding and they were Arnold Zeitlin, Michael Laurent, and Simon Dring. On March 31st 1971 the daily Telegraph of London published Simon Dring’s eyewitness account of Operation Searchlight. Datelined Dhaka it was called “How Dhaka paid for a united Pakistan” Dring’s account of the army’s attack on Dhaka University was horrifying and shocking but vivid and factual. “Led by the American supplied M-24 World War 11 tanks one column of troops sped to Dhaka University shortly after midnight. Troops took over the British Council library (situated within the campus) and used it as a firebase to shell nearby dormitory areas. Caught completely by surprise some 200 students were killed in Iqbal hall head quarters of the militant anti Govt. students union I was told. Two days later bodies were still smoldering in burnt out rooms, Others were scattered outside, more floated in a nearby lake. At another hall reportedly soldiers buried the dead in a hastily dug mass grave, which was then bulldozed over by tanks. People living near the university were caught in the fire too and 200 yards of shanty houses running alongside a railway line were destroyed.”

After midnight on March 25th the city of Dhaka resounded with the sound of gunfire and the pungent odor of cordite. Tikka Khan was faced with a massive popular revolution, which he tried to crush with brutal military force and ruthless measures. Dhaka University, the Headquarters of the Police in Motijheel, and the strong hold of the East Pakistan Rifles (EPR) in Philkhana bore the brunt of the army’s onslaught. Heavy weapons such as the 105-mm recoilless rifles were freely used. Major Zia-ur-Rehman the second in command of the East Bengal regiment (EBR) killed all the non Bengali officers in his unit and announced the formation of the Govt. of Bangladesh from the Chittagong Radio station on March 26th 1971. Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman too, before his arrest by army commandos had made a declaration of independence “This may be my last message. From today Bangladesh is independent. I call upon the people of Bangladesh wherever you may be and with whatever you have to resist the army of occupation to the last. Your fight must go on until the last soldier of the Pakistan occupation army is expelled from the soil of Bangladesh and final victory is achieved.” Subsequently Taj-ud-din Ahmed the Prime Minister of the provisional Govt. in exile based in Calcutta issued another declaration of independence on 17th April 1971 “Pakistan is now dead and buried under a mountain of corpses.” Operation Searchlight was definitely the last nail in the coffin of a united Pakistan.

Bengali officers and other ranks in the Pakistani defense forces could not remain silent spectators to the massacre of their brethren. Most of them rose up in rebellion, took up arms against their Pakistani comrades and murdered their superior officers in cold blood. Many brutal and shocking atrocities were committed by the rebellious Bengali soldiers. They grabbed whatever arms and ammunition they could and fled to the jungles to join the mukti bahini under command of Colonel Usmani who was later designated as the C-in-C of the liberation forces.

The military Junta in West Pakistan was overjoyed at their initial success. The ruling elite and even some West Pakistani intellectuals actually believed that the entire drama in East Pakistan was staged by Indian agents and their Bengali stooges particularly the Hindu population of East Pakistan. They mistakenly believed that the majority of the Bengalis did not want secession from Pakistan and the power drunk generals often said “The rebels must be crushed; then we can talk of any political settlement.” The only concern or fear they had was about the extent of the Indian involvement. Leading lights of the ruling junta were Generals Hameed, Omar, khudadad, and peerzada safely installed in the air-conditioned luxury of their palatial houses in Rawalpindi. All these Generals were used to a life of luxury, pomp and show, and the accumulation of wealth. They were completely oblivious to the ground realities in East Pakistan. They were deaf and dumb to the cries of the Bengali people and blind to the exploitation of the province of East Pakistan. Their mistaken notion was that the Bengalis had been sorted out forever so why give them any political concessions. Justice Cornelius was ordered to prepare a draft constitution providing for “autonomy” for East Pakistan but within limits. General peerzada the “Rasputin” of the ruling junta wanted to ensure that the “Non Martial” race should never have the chance to rule over the “Martial” races of West Pakistan. Hitler was not the only one who believed in the theory of a superior race!! General Peerzada was also the chairman of the Constitution drafting commission called the Cornelius Committee. The rough draft constitution prepared by this committee was nothing short of a legal document authorizing the loot and exploitation of East Pakistan. Even at this stage the ruling elite of the country believed that the Bengalis could be tamed and browbeaten by the force of arms. The generals and the West Pakistan Beaurocracy were hard at work preparing a constitution for the people who had already declared their independence from Pakistan.

In December 1970 General Yahya Khan held the first ever fair free and transparent general elections in the nations history. The Awami League of Sheikh Mujib-ur-rehman won a landslide victory bagging 167 out of 169 seats from East Pakistan in the National assembly of 300 members. This election victory gave the Awami League an absolute majority in the assembly and the legal and constitutional right to form the Central Govt. of Pakistan. The ruling elite of West Pakistan were faced by their worst nightmare. Since 1947 they had planned and maneuvered to deny the Bengalis their birth right to rule over Pakistan. Sheikh Mujib had by now become the uncrowned king of Bengal. At a massive rally in Paltan Maidan he, and all the elected members of the Awami league had taken a solemn oath on the Holy Quran to implement the six-point program. Mujib was surrounded by the youthful and militant Bengali nationalists. The students committee had announced their own 11 point program and forced Mujib to adopt an inflexible and rigid stance in his negotiations with Yahya Khan and the leaders of West Pakistan. Mujib-ur-Rehman basking in the glory of acclaim and praise demanded the lifting of Martial Law and transfer of power to the elected representatives of the people. Bhutto the majority leader from the West insisted that the Awami League should abandon the six-point program. He maintained that before a constitution is framed power should be transferred to the two majority parties in East and West Pakistan.

Faced with imminent rebellion and civil war General Yahya Khan rushed to Dhaka on March 15th. To defuse the situation through a political settlement. After intense and marathon negotiations the two sides had come to an agreement by March 20th for the transfer of power. At this stage Z.A. Bhutto threw a spanner in the works. He announced that the agreement was not acceptable to him. He wanted the National Assembly session to be called first, or he should be given more time to negotiate with Mujib directly. The National Assembly session scheduled for March 23rd was postponed and Bhutto joined the parleys in Dhaka. On March 21st Colonel Hassan the judge advocate general and a member of the negotiating team handed over the draft of a presidential proclamation to the Awami league. On March 23rd the awami league negotiators met the President’s team. Now the Awami Leaguers were told that their six-point program could be adopted with some minor adjustments. It was proposed that M.M. Ahmed the deputy chairman of the planning commission will negotiate with the Awami League to sort out the economic and financial details of their six-point program. By nightfall on March 24th the Awami League had concluded its political negotiations. It was proposed by Mujib that his Aide Dr. Kamal Hussein and the eminent Jurist Justice Cornelius should work through out the night to finalize the agreement. Cornelius agreed, but General S.G.M Peerzada torpedoed the proposal with the cryptic remark “No, we may discuss it for a while then we can meet tomorrow morning.” When the Bengalis insisted on a fixed time for the meeting they were told that they will be informed of the time on telephone. The Awami League team waited all day on 25th March for the call from General Peezada. The telephone in the Awami League office did not ring all day. The last and final chance to preserve the territorial integrity and unity of Pakistan
was lost.

Z.A. Bhutto witnessed the bloody and gory drama of Operation Searchlight from the balcony of his room in the luxurious Hotel Intercontinental Dhaka and remarked later “At about ten thirty at night after finishing our dinner we went up to our rooms. An hour later we were awakened by the sound of gunfire. A number of my friends came to my room and we saw the army in action. We witnessed the military operations from our room for about three hours. A number of places were ablaze. We saw the demolition of the office of the newspaper “The People” this local English daily had indulged in crude and unrestrained provocation against the army and West Pakistan. With the horizon ablaze my thoughts turned to the past and the future. I wondered what was in store for us. Here in front of my own eyes I saw the death and destruction of my own people. Many thoughts crossed my mind. It was difficult to think straight. Had we passed the point of no return? Or would time heal the wounds and open a new chapter in the history of Pakistan? How I wished I knew the answer.”

The answer to Bhutto’s philosophical musings was that the point of no return had definitely been reached with the launching of Operation Searchlight.



References:

1. Atiqur Rahman, M (Lt.GEN.) Leadership: Senior Commanders. Lahore Ferozesons 1977

2. Cohen, Stephen P. The Indian Army. Berkley. University of California Press 1971

3. Chowdry, G.W. The Last Days of United Pakistan. London: G. Hurst and Co. 1974

4. Khan, Gul Hassan (Lt.Gen.) Memoirs of Lt. Gen. Gul Hassan Khan.
Karachi::Oxford University Press 1993

5. http://www.dhaka-bd.com/march26/OPERATION_SEARCHLIGHT.htm


6. Mazari, M Shireen, “Subversion & its linkage to low intensity conflicts. ethnic movements & violence” www.defencejoornal.com

7. http://www.weeklyholiday.net/170502/inret.html